After weeks of negotiations and an additional week long continuing resolution to keep the government open until Dec. 23rd, Congress passed a wide reaching year-end omnibus funding bill. The final bill passed the House and Senate and was signed by President Biden this week. The bill included a 10% increase in defense spending and 5.5% increase in domestic spending.

The bill funds the Historic Preservation Fund at $204.5 million, marking a record level of funding for the program for the 7th consecutive year and a 18% increase over FY22 enacted levels. This includes much needed increases for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (S/THPOs). The bill funds SHPOs at $62.15 million, ensuring that no SHPO will receive a funding decrease after reapportionment. THPOs will receive $23 million, a substantial $7 million increase over last year. The final bill also includes funding increases for the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization grants, African American Civil Rights Grants and HBCU Preservation grants. Check out the full breakdown below:

Historic Preservation Fund FY23 Levels

• $62.15 million for State Historic Preservation Offices ($4.475M over FY22)
• $23 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices ($7M over FY22)
• $26.5 million for Save America's Treasures (same as FY22)
• $24 million for the African American Civil Rights grant program ($2.25M over FY22)
• $12.5 million for Paul Bruhn grants ($2.5M over FY22)
• $11 million for HBCU preservation grants ($1M over FY22)
• $10 million for the Semiquincentennial grant program (same as FY22)
• $5 million for the History of Equal Rights Grant program ($375,000 over FY22)
• $1.25 million for Underrepresented Communities Grants (same as FY22)
• $29.115 million in Congressionally Directed Spending for HPF Projects ($13.843M over FY22)

Total: $204.515 million ($31.443 million over FY22)

Preservation Action submitted testimony in support of $200 million for the HPF in March. Earlier this month, we also joined several of our preservation partners on a letter urging support for $191 million for the HPF. Thank you our many congressional champions for their critical support of HPF funding, especially the outgoing Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who is retiring this year and has been one of historic preservation's biggest supporters.

The record funding we've seen for the HPF would not have been possible without you reaching out to your members of Congress and making our voice heard! Thank you for your continued advocacy!

The In the final days of the 117th Congress, lawmakers passed several bills important to historic preservation. Last week Congress passed the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act (S. 3667/H.R. 6805) as part of the year end Omnibus funding bill. This bill authorizes the National Park Service to establish a $3 million grant program to identify and protect African American Burial Grounds. The protection and documentation of African American Burials Grounds have long been neglected, and this bill provides a comprehensive, streamlined, and clear strategy is to preserve these sacred sites. Preservation Action strongly supports this important bill. Thank you to everyone that reached out to your members of Congress and helped get this bill across the finish line.

The Omnibus funding bill also included provisions from the Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act (S.2256/H.R. 4164) which will increase reporting requirements for conservation easements and caps the value of a donated easement to the tax value. Importantly, the legislation distinguishes conservation easements from historic preservation easements and exempts preservation easements from the value cap. Preservation easements are an important tool to protect and rehabilitate historic sites, but have recently been targeted by IRS audits, causing many to not pursue easements. This legislation aims to curb abuse seen in conservation easements, while allowing legitimate easements to move forward without constant threat of audits. Preservation Action supports these provisions and worked with our partners to ensure preservation easements were protected.

Last week, Congress also passed the National Heritage Area Act of 2021 (S. 1942, H.R. 1316) which will create a much-needed uniform system to reauthorize National Heritage Areas, allocate standard funding, and provide universal standards to how current and future National Heritage Areas (NHAs) are managed and designated. The bill also designates 7 new NHAs and allows for the study of 3 additional NHAs. Preservation Action urged support for this bill in written testimony. Thank you to everyone that reached out to your members of Congress.

Unfortunately, one of our top priorities, the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R. 2294, S. 2266), which would have updated, expanded and made the Historic Tax Credit easier to use for smaller projects, did not pass in the current Congress. That said, we made huge strides in support for the bill, achieving a record level 119 bipartisan cosponsors, which would not have been possible without your persistent advocacy efforts. These efforts help lay important groundwork and helps to kickstart our advocacy in the new Congress.

While there's still much more work to do, thank you all for a truly remarkable year for historic preservation.

After months of delay, last week the Senate voted by unanimous consent to confirm Sara Bronin to serve as the next Chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP). She will be the agency's 2nd full-time chair. The ACHP is an independent federal agency that promotes the preservation, enhancement, and sustainable use of our nation's historic resources, and is tasked with advising the President and Congress on national historic preservation policy.

Sara Bronin is a Mexican-American architect, attorney, and policymaker that specializes in historic preservation, property, land-use and climate change. She's currently a professor at the Cornell College of Architecture, Art and Planning and faculty member at Cornell Law School. She's an advisor for National Trust for Historic Preservation, serves on the board of Latinos in Heritage Conservation, and a past Chair of Preservation Connecticut. Professor Bronin was first nominated to the position by President Biden in June of 2021, but had to be resubmitted at the beginning of the year. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources voted to favorably report her nomination in March.

Preservation Action strongly supported Sara Bronin's nomination and most recently joined a letter earlier this fall urging a vote on her nomination. Sara Bronin is supremely qualified for this important role and we look forward to working with her and the ACHP.

The Architect's Newspaper: "Here are 14 Historic Preservation Stories That Defined 2022"

National Park Service: "National Park Service Awards $1.2 Million to Help Preserve Underrepresented Community History"

Ohio: "Governor DeWine, Lt. Governor Husted Announce State Support for 54 Historic Rehabilitation Projects"

Maryland: "Preservation Group Helps Out Shortage by Finding Skilled Workers to Maintain Historic Buildings"

New York: "Governor Hochul Announces New York State Historic Preservation Awards for 2022"

Nebraska: "Grants Available for Historic Renovation Work in Rural Communities"